Class Hurricane
Type: Multi-role hyperspace capable stealth strike fighter -Origin: Storm Works Aerospace Ltd. -Users: GATO -Length: 10.5 Meters -Wingspan: 14.75 Meters -Height: 3.29 Meters -Powerplant: ~Two Mk. IIIF naquadriah generators -Propulsion: ~3 x General Electric IRP-45 high-energy ion-based sublight engines ~1 x Kawasaki HS-2DG short-range hyperspace window generator -Armament: ~Ten external, non-powered hardpoints for a variety of munitions and attachments. ~Two external powered plug hardpoints for a variety of cannons and attachments. -Defenses: ~Trinium Hull ~Cloaking device ~Reactive armor plating ~Provision for a variety of jamming and defense suppression systems. ~Technical and Historical Notes~ By 2031, the venerable F-302A, while still an extremely capable fighter compared to Wraith Darts, Ori Raiders and various other fighters in use by hostile cultures, was beginning to show it's age. The trinium alloys developed to build the fighter had been manufactured with considerable impurities that only now were being corrected in refinement, and thus the airframes of the fighters were prematurely deteriorating. In other words, the planes were becoming brittle and decayed before their originally projected time. The United States faced a considerable quandary and potential scandal over this. Every nation capable of maintaining a space fleet used the F-302, and should those fighters fail the defense of Earth, then it's interests in the universe would be at serious risk. Therefore, the United States immediately created the Advanced Spaceborne Fighter Program (ASF), for the purposes of creating a replacement. In a considerable milestone, it opened the competition to foreign and domestic aerospace companies, as this was to become the next-generation fighter for the Tau'ri. The need for the new fighter became incredibly urgent after the string of victories the Wraith had against Tau'ri and Allied forces in the Pegasus Galaxy during the summer of 2032, so the deadline was moved up. The only companies capable of such a feat were Mitsubishi in Japan, SAAB Defense Systems in Sweden, Pioneer Aerospace in Canada, Lockheed Martin, and the relatively new and unknown company Storm Works, the last two based in the United States. By next spring Storm Works had nearly bankrupted itself and sold off a lot of it's stock to General Dynamics, but they had completed their first prototype fighter, the X-322, in only three years. The X-322 was heavily based on the F-302 Mongoose. Wide wings and three main engines. But the similarities ended there. Firstly, the fighter used next-generation naquadriah-based powerplants: Two generators custom-built by the Storm Works crew. They provided 500 percent more power than the same generators on board the Mongoose, and had less than half the parts. The inertial dampening system was spread out through the wings to increase the fighter's maneuverability 50 percent over the F-302's, and served to make the wings more rigid, allowing the fighter to hold more fuel and take more damage. Range was 35 percent over the 302's, using the same system but a more efficient design. Combined with three off-the-shelf ion engines from General Electric, and the X-322 was beating back the competition even in prototype phase. More of a cost-savings, but still critical, feature, was the fact that the X-322 did not come with any permanent weapons installed. Two hardpoints on either side of the fuselage were connected to the power distribution system directly, allowing for directed energy weapon or rail gun pods to be attached. An innovative feature was the fact that these hardpoints could have their energy flow reversed, allowing for the attachment of extra power generators to augment the X-322's already impressive energy output. Alongside were ten hardpoints that allowed the fighter to haul a war load of over 250,000 pounds with no real loss in performance, and the X-322 would be able to absolutely dominate the battlespace. From the start, Storm Works had intended the X-322 to be flexible. The fighter could just as easily fly a strike mission as a reconnaissance one, serve as an interceptor for a carrier battlegroup or engage in interdictions of hostile forces over planetary surfaces. Storm Works even left the provision for the X-322 to act as a tanker, providing nitrogen fuel to fighters, or naquadah charges to Puddlejumpers and utility craft. Every weapon in GATO's inventory could be carried, giving the fighter unprecedented versatility. And, thanks to her high energy output and powerful engines, she would not be another "does everything, nothing well" craft. She would be able to do everything asked of her well, and the continuously encouraging tests and demonstrations proved it. By 2035, a test squadron of X-322s was flying out of Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada, with aviators from ten different countries testing the new aircraft. The verdict was unanimous-The X-322 was superior to the F-302 in every way. The Lockheed Martin X-321, while having a longer range and featuring new ablative armor, was twice as expensive, and the Mitsubishi X-323, while faster in level flight and hyperspace, was no where near as rugged or dependable. In early 2035, The X-322 was redesignated the F/A-322 Hurricane. Storm Works Ltd. was able to remain an independent company with the outpouring of orders from the GATO member nations, but still worked closely with General Dynamics in production of the fighters. The first combat squadron to upgrade to the F/A-322 were, appropriately enough, the 1st TFW "Wraithwaxers", only the second interstellar tactical fighter wing in human history. From aboard the Daedalus in the Pegasus galaxy, the Wraithwaxers didn't lose a single plane for thirty engagements, and inflicted devastating losses on four Wraith-held worlds. They are credited with being the first fighter squadron to destroy am upgraded Wraith hive in a strike at MH4-409. Soon every squadron and fighter wing on and off Earth were demanding the upgrade to the Hurricane, and Storm Works expanded their modest production facility near Los Angeles, California, from two hundred acres to ten thousand over the course of two months. Other companies leased the rights to the fighter and began their own production, soon putting one hundred ninety-six F/A-322s out into the world's air and space forces, with more under construction as the war against the Wraith, Reapers, and Ori continued to escalate. Two facilities were established offworld for the production of F-322s, a few months before General Drac's assault on Earth herself. The Hurricanes were a huge part of the daring plan to retake Earth by the Tau'ri fleets, the Wraithwaxers themselves arriving from Pegasus and dealing the fatal blow to General Drac's ship at the cost of half their number. In the wake of the Wraith's defeat, the F/A-322 plants in California and elsewhere are rebuilding and revving production up to full. The total orders for Hurricanes total more than 1,000 fighters in total, and no end for their production is in sight.